As Easy As ABC
by spazmoid
Summary: Just little oneshots of directionshipping from a-z.
1. A is for Apple Juice

If there was one thing Romano hated about waking up with a hangover, it was the waking up. His hurt like all kinds of hell, his eyes hurt, his back hurt... was it possible for his hair to hurt? He groaned wishing that he had listened to Antonio and stopped after that last glass of wine. He snuggled beneath the blankets that covered him willing for more sleep that did not come. In the end, he ended up poking his head from the coverlets and squinting at a pale back.

He poked it, tracing a scar with his index finger. He leant up a bit, pushing himself up until his head was propped up on a snoozing albino's shoulder. "Hey Gilbert...," he breathed softly into the other's ear.

Gilbert responded with a small groan before tilting his head to look up at Romano drowsingly. "Vas?" he asked wondering why his lover was bothering him so early in the morning after all the both of them had drunken yesterday.

"Coffee." Romano prodded Gilbert with his finger. The only medicine for a bad hangover was nice cup of coffee and then a warm shower. The only answer, but first, he wanted the coffee.

Coffee that did not look like it was coming. Gilbert had only rolled his eyes and turnt back over. Romano stared at the audacity of this man who had just rejected him such a simple offer. He poked him again, this time more of a jab. When he got no response, he huffed and crawled from the sheets.

A small stumble as he slipped over a pair of forgotten pants, then several unsteady steps into the kitchen. He walked about, letting out a small sound of victory when he found the espresso machine tucked away in a corner next to the stove. He had just placed it down on the stovetop when he heard the scamper of feet behind him and a small little meow at his feet.

"Buongiorno Adriano," he said as he moved away from the stove and found a leaning post against the counter to wait for the sound of it being ready. He muffled a yawn, closing his eyes just for a second...

Romano woke up with a start and a curse realising how much time had passed. Great. Now he had burnt his coffee. There went his morning pick-me-up. He looked about for more coffee ground, but found the bit he used to be the last of it in the house. Just his luck. He cursed some more and emptied the ruined coffee down the drain.

Two arms wrapped around his waist when he got around to rinsing and washing out the pot. "Burnt it?"

Romano scowled and turnt around. "Si," he said with all his displeasure at his hangover routine being interrupted, "and we're out of ground coffee." Not too mention his head still kind of hurt, a throbbing near his temple. He reached up and rubbed at it. He did not feel like going to the store.

A glass pressed against his lips, and he opened them a bit, the taste of apples touching his tongue. "Apple juice?" he asked reaching up and grabbing the cup for himself.

Gilbert nodded and hummed. "Ja," he said with a smile. "We can buy more coffee later," he said as Romano continued to sip the juice. It was better than nothing, the Italian had decided. He looked up to find the German in front of him pouring his own glass and sipping on it himself. They looked at each other before Gilbert smiled a bit, warming up Romano's mood a bit. He smiled himself, but hid it well behind his own cup.

Maybe he should adjust his hangover routine to fit in just a little glass of apple juice.


	2. B is for Banana Pudding

"How do we do this again?" Romano asked curiously looking at the ingredients with a bit of a frown. His twin brother Feliciano had decided that they should try making banana pudding for their picnic today. He said it was really big in the southern United States, and his friend Alfred Jones in New York had shown him how to make it when he went to visit him last summer.

Feliciano was ecstatic to try it, but Romano was a lot more hesitant. He liked bananas, but he had never been too keen on foreign dishes. Even when Feliciano tried to call it 'Zuppa di Banana,' to make it sound more Italian, he was still hesitant. "Well first, we preheat the oven to 175," he said pointing to the stove.

Romano nodded. So far it was easy. He started the oven and then read the next directions from a little slip of paper Feliciano was holding. "Line the bottom and sides of a pie plate with vanilla wafers and banana." He took Alfred had meant slices and cut the banana into thin even slices. He could not find a pie plate, so he used a trifle bowl instead. They seemed the same to him. Maybe.

He had just finished with the lining when Feliciano was placing the pudding mixture on the stove. "I'll stir," he said and grabbed the wooden spoon from Feliciano's hand.

Feliciano nodded and hummed grabbing ingredients for sandwiches. He glanced over at Romano still humming, and saw he was busy with the pudding. He took the chance and slipped some wurst into their picnic basket. He managed to do it just in the nick of time because Romano turnt around with the pudding right then. He began pouring it over the wafer cookies.

"Only half," Feliciano reminded him, which Romano scoffed at. He knew what to do. Okay. He had not, but he could have guessed.

Romano grabbed the directions once more as Feliciano started on the second layer of wafer cookies and banana. "Do we have to do the meringue?" he asked with a questioning downturn of his lips.

A quick nod was his answer as Feliciano explained they had to do it right other wise it would taste funny, and he wanted it to be absolutely _perfect_ for Ludwig.

Romano had rolled his eyes at that. He grumbled and started on the meringue, which turnt out to be more difficult than he expected. He almost added too much sugar at once.

"Grazi fratello," Feliciano hummed with a beaming smile as he took the glass bowl Romano had made the whipped topping in and spread it on the pie. "Now all we have to do is bake it!"

"Bake what?"

Both brothers turnt around quickly at that. Two young men stood in their kitchen doorway. "Oi! You two bastards weren't supposed to be here until another...," Romano quickly glanced at the kitchen wall clock, "... thirty fucking minutes! Why are you so early?" He scowled furiously and hid the pie behind his back. Feliciano quickly grabbed it, and in a blink of an eye it was popped in the oven in a hopefully smooth and unnoticed manner.

"What did you just put in the oven?" the shorter of the two men asked with a glint in his red eyes.

Okay. Maybe they were not as smooth as they had thought.

A surly frown came across Romano's face. He would have looked even angrier if there was not a flush accompanying it. "Nothing! Nada!" he said going and pushing the two out the door. "Go back outside and wait thirty minutes until we're ready!" he huffed making them to the livingroom. After that, Gilbert dug in his heels and whirled around to meet red eyes with hazel.

"Liar," he said with a smirk.

Romano flushed darker being caught in his lie. He stamped his foot in a frustrated manner. "It's a surprise, so go!"

Before Gilbert could retort to that, Feliciano finally decided to assist him in his arguement. He came in with a hand lazily on his hip and a spoon held in a tsk'ing motion in his hand. "Roma is right! We can't have you two ruining our surprise! We worked hard on it!" He pouted a bit then and stared the two German brothers down.

Ludwig was the first to give. A sigh left his lips and he rubbed back his blond hair with the palm of his hand. He nodded. "Okay Feliciano, but we will be right outside on the swing," he said pointing to their porch.

Feliciano beamed and happily pecked Ludwig on the cheek. "Thank you Ludwig," he said cheerfully now that he had gotten what he wanted.

Romano rolled his eyes and simply pointed at the door. "Bye," he said and then went back into the kitchen.

It was sunny and bright outside, the perfect weather for a picnic. Gilbert sat boredly on the swing next to Ludwig, kicking his feet back and forth. "I don't see why we could not have just found out what they are up to," he said playing with a flower he had found at his feet.

Ludwig shook his head. "No. They want it to be a surprise, and we shoul-"

Gilbert interrupted him with a small whip sound. "You just do not like Feli to be mad at you West," he said with a laugh. He laughed even harder when Ludwig did not reply. He managed to calm down to chuckles, and then finally a small smile pointed to the clouds. "I think the twins are cute when their angry." He said 'twins,' but he was thinking of one in particular.

The rest of their time was spent in silence with the exception of Gilbert pointing at a cloud that looked remarkably like a cat or a dog. He had just pointed out one that held a striking resemblance to his precious Gilbird when Romano and Feliciano came out of the house. Feliciano was wearing that drippy grin of his, whilst Romano's usual sour face was dancing toward a smile. "Let's go," he commanded grabbing Gilbert's hand to lead him to the sandy beach right in their backyard.

Feliciano did the same with Ludwig, swinging the picnic basket in his freehand. He babbled about how much fun this was going to be, and managed to get a small smile from the one walking with him.

Gilbert looked toward Romano and was surprised to find he was looking right back. Romano quickly looked away and directed his gaze toward the sky. Gilbert felt a devious and mischevious grin spread across his features as a wicked idea came into his mind.

There was a small yelp as Romano was lifted and tossed onto a bare pale shoulder. He screamed out vulgarities and insults in vain, his flailing limbs exclaiming his protests coming to no avail. He fell into the warm water with a loud splash and another cursing yelp.

After a bit of floundering, his head bobbled up. He coughed up a bit of salty water and brushed some his bangs from his face. "What the hell Gil-?" he did not get to finish before screaming again as Gilbert dived where he was splashing water all around him and back into his eyes. He rubbed them furiously and then splashed Gilbert right back. "No splashing! Hey!"

Ludwig and Feliciano watched the scene from a blanket on the shore. Feliciano laughed lightly and leant against Ludwig's broad and tan back. "They're silly aren't they?" Romano was screaming still, but now there was laughter mixed in.

Ludwig tilted his head downward, and smiled softly at the lean man sitting against him. "Yes. They are very silly," he said with a nod and a chuckle.

They were silent for a moment. Feliciano was smiling warmly with his eyes focused on their older brothers playing in the Meditteranean. He hummed a wordless song and reached over for the basic. "We made sandwiches," he said. "This one's yours. I put wurst on it. Can you put wurst on sandwiches?" he asked as he handed it to Ludwig.

Ludwig smiled at him, a bit of a flush seen faintly across his face. "Of course you can. It looks very good." He pretended to inspect the sandwich and heartily approve with a nod, resulting in a wide and content smile from Feliciano.

Feliciano tugged out his own sandwich, and nibbled on it still humming. He looked over at Ludwig in thought. He took one more bite from his sandwich before crawling off the blanket to the sand. He flopped down and began making a small mound.

He crawled about, appearing to not notice Ludwig staring at him curiously. He collected seashells, rocks and strands of light-coloured sticks. After a while, he stopped and tilted his head to the left. Then he tilted it to the right. "Look Luddy it's you!" he said making Ludwig nearly choke on his sandwich.

"I... suppose... it is...," he said slowly with a bit of laughter in his eyes. It had straw for hair and blue seashells for eyes. The rest was purely shaped with sand and water and had a not-quite likeness there. Still, it was pretty decent likeness to him. "It actually looks like me."

There was a loud splash as Romano emerged from the water on Gilbert's shoulders. "Hey! Kleine Tomaten says there's pudding! Ow!" He rubbed his head a bit and scowled up at Romano threatening to drop him if he whacked him upside the head again.

So Romano kicked him.

He yelled as he tumbled into the sand.

"I'm breaking up with you!" he scowled sitting up with a huff on the blanket.

Gilbert laughed and grinned at him. "No you're not."

Romano bit into a sandwich angrily because he knew Gilbert was right. His eyes caught on the sand sculpture. "What the hell is that?" He stared at Sandwig plankly and then stood up to inspect it closer. He hardly even noticed that his sandwich had wurst in it due to his own curiosity. He looked at Ludwig, then at the sand sculpture. He went back and forth for a few moments before a wicked smile spread on his mouth. He grabbed two pieces of seaweed and placed them below his nose. "Ha! Now you look stupid as a sculpture and as a person!" he announced triumphantly.

Gilbert laughed loudly at that finding it hilarious. Ludwig, however, looked unamused. He was about to say something about their childish actions when Feliciano intervened. "Zuppa di Banana!" he shouted loudly to catch their attention. He handed everyone a spoon. "It is a lot more fun to eat it all together don't you think?"

Gilbert nodded popping a spoon into his mouth contently. "And yummy too!" He grinned.

Romano was eating it more hesitantly. He still did not trust this weird pudding thing even after he had helped in the making of it. He was still contemplating whether to put the spoon in his mouth when it seemed to take a life of its own and push past his lips. He swallowed before he choked, tasting it on his tongue.

"Yummy?"

When had Gilbert gotten so close? Romano scooted back a bit. "... Not that bad."

A smirk was playing on Gilbert's lip then, and there was something in his eyes that Romano recognised too well. "Better taste then, hmn?" he suggested and leant in closer despite Romano's protest that 'hey, our brothers are right fucking here' or perhaps 'hey, wait sand on my back.'

Feliciano stifled a small laugh behind his hand as he leant up and pecked Ludwig on the lips. He smiled happily and stood. "How about we take this chance to give them some 'bonding time,' and have our own little walk?" he asked innocently reaching for Ludwig's hand.

Ludwig took it, and found that rare smile and light flush that only showed the most genuine when Feliciano was there. "Sounds like a great idea Feliciano."


End file.
